FED-STD-191 is the U.S. government’s former master reference for testing textiles bought by federal agencies, particularly the Department of Defense. Issued as FED-STD-191A in 1978, it collected the physical, chemical, and biological test methods used to evaluate fibers, yarn, thread, rope and other cordage, cloth, and fabricated textile products against federal and military specifications.1EverySpec. FED-STD-191A – Federal Standard: Textile Test Methods The standard was inactivated for new design on August 9, 2000, and its methods have largely been absorbed by ASTM International and other voluntary consensus standards bodies.2EverySpec. FED-STD-191A Change Notice 7 – Textile Test Methods Legacy specifications still cite its method numbers, so it remains relevant to contractors fulfilling older procurement documents.
What the Standard Covered
FED-STD-191A described, in its own words, “the general physical, chemical and biological methods for testing textile fibers, yarn, thread, rope, other cordage, cloth and fabricated textile products for conformance with the requirements of Federal and Military Specifications.”1EverySpec. FED-STD-191A – Federal Standard: Textile Test Methods The practical function was consistency. When a military specification called for a fabric to meet a certain breaking strength or flame-resistance threshold, the spec referenced a specific FED-STD-191 method number. Every testing lab, supplier, and procurement officer then followed the same procedure, used the same equipment, and reported results in the same format. That mattered most for items where failure could be catastrophic, like parachute webbing or flame-resistant flight suits.
How the Method Numbers Are Organized
The standard used a four- or five-digit numbering scheme where the leading digits indicated the general category of testing. The 2000 series dealt with chemical composition and analysis. The 4000 series addressed yarn and thread. The 5000 series covered fabric and cloth properties, with flammability methods clustered in the 5900 range and breaking-strength methods in the 5100 range.
A few examples make the pattern concrete. Method 5104 specified the ravel strip procedure for measuring breaking strength and elongation of woven cloth. Method 5906 measured the horizontal burn rate of cloth.3Federal Aviation Administration. Flammability Assessment of Aircraft Cabin Materials Method 5903 tested vertical flame resistance and became one of the most widely cited methods in the entire standard.
Method 5903 and ASTM D6413
Method 5903 has had the longest afterlife of anything in FED-STD-191. ASTM D6413, the current voluntary consensus standard for vertical flame testing of textiles, was directly adopted from FED-STD-191A Method 5903.1.4ASTM International. Standard Test Method for Flame Resistance of Textiles (Vertical Test) Both methods use the same apparatus, the same specimen size, and the same 12-second flame exposure, and both record afterflame time, afterglow time, and char length. The differences are mainly in reporting terminology and administrative formatting.3Federal Aviation Administration. Flammability Assessment of Aircraft Cabin Materials
Why It Was Canceled
The standard was not canceled for technical reasons. Federal policy changed. The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 required federal agencies to adopt technical standards developed by voluntary consensus standards bodies whenever practical, rather than maintaining government-unique standards.5GovInfo. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 OMB Circular A-119, revised in 1998, directed agencies to use voluntary consensus standards “in their procurement and regulatory activities” unless doing so would be inconsistent with law or otherwise impractical.6White House Office of Management and Budget. OMB Circular A-119 Revised Maintaining hundreds of government-unique test methods duplicated work that ASTM International and ISO were already doing with broader industry input. FED-STD-191A was formally inactivated for new design through Notice 7.2EverySpec. FED-STD-191A Change Notice 7 – Textile Test Methods After that date, new military specifications and federal procurement documents were expected to reference ASTM, ISO, or other consensus standards.
Using FED-STD-191 Today
Inactive for new design is not the same as gone. Older military specifications and contracts still reference FED-STD-191 method numbers, and anyone fulfilling those contracts needs to know what the methods require. The full standard, including all change notices, remains available through the Defense Logistics Agency’s ASSIST database and through document repositories such as EverySpec.1EverySpec. FED-STD-191A – Federal Standard: Textile Test Methods The General Services Administration’s FedSpecs site also lists the standard and its inactivation status.7General Services Administration. FedSpecs List of Federal Standards
When you encounter a legacy specification citing a FED-STD-191 method number, the practical step is to identify the corresponding ASTM method. ASTM D6413 maps directly to Method 5903.1 for vertical flame resistance.4ASTM International. Standard Test Method for Flame Resistance of Textiles (Vertical Test) Similar crosswalks exist across the rest of the standard, but no single published table covers every conversion. In most cases the contracting officer or specification custodian can clarify which current ASTM or ISO method satisfies a given legacy requirement.